The next morning I got up and ate one of the cakes as I walked towards the barrier in the hopes of finding something that I could test out my new spell on and hopefully harvest some Essence from but when I got to the barrier which was now almost completely transparent I could see that there was a swarm of Crawlers on the other side.

“Well shit,” I muttered. The Crawlers not only outnumbered me, but I could finally see a couple with the strangely shaped limbs like the one that had been attacking the barrier after I managed to escape back through it yesterday. As I had noted yesterday these limbs were held above the main body and had bulbous tips that ended in a long spike similar to a scorpion’s tail. There was also a single specimen of yet another new type of Crawler present that was larger than both the normal type and the other type which I decided to tentatively name Stinging Crawlers. This oversized Crawler had a large conical shell covering its main body that towered far above my head. I wasn’t sure how this new type was related to the others but at least its appearance made naming it easy enough. The Shelled Crawler sat in the middle of the other Crawlers and didn’t really seem to be interested in moving from its position. Not that I really blamed it for feeling that way; that shell looked as heavy as hell.

Suddenly a shadow passed over my head and I looked up to see that more Crawlers clambering over the barrier, if I was forced to guess I’d have to say that there were around 30 Crawlers that I could see outside the barrier and that was just where I was looking right now. I started running around the inside of the barrier in the hopes of finding somewhere that wasn’t swarming with Crawlers but in the end, I didn’t find anywhere where they weren’t already waiting for me.

When I checked their Levels, I got an even bigger shock, the Stinging Crawlers were all over Level 10 and the lowest Levelled Shelled Crawler I could find was Level 20. The normal Crawlers were all between Level 1 and Level 10 which was interesting because it suggested that not all of the normal Crawlers became Stinging Crawlers. In fact, there was a possibility that Crawler society was similar to that of ants which would mean that the normal Crawlers were the workers and the Stingers were the soldiers. Of course, I wasn’t sure how the Shelled Crawlers fit in if that was the case because I was pretty sure that they weren’t queens; there were too many of them for that but it didn’t change the fact that if I didn’t figure something out before the barrier came down I was screwed.

After thinking about my options for a while I decided that there were a couple of things that I could try and the first of these was to attempt to fire my spells through the barrier which in retrospect was something I really should’ve attempted before things had gotten this bad. Raising a hand, I created a Mana Bolt and fired it at one of the Crawlers above my head aiming at the mouth under its central body in the hopes that this would do more damage.

The magical attack shot through the barrier like it wasn’t even there and sent the surprised Crawler flying through the air to land in a crumpled heap on the ground. As expected, all the other Crawlers leapt into motion climbing to the place where the Crawler I’d hit had been standing. Which allowed me to launch a Mana Blade at them that sliced shallow gouges into the flesh of their limbs. With hisses that were audible even from here the Crawlers leapt off the barrier to get away from my next attack which was a Stone Shot that I was aiming at the smallest one in the group.

It was at this time that one of the nearby Shelled Crawlers made its move, the tips of two of its limbs seemed to glow briefly before to bolts of light slammed into the spot where the other Crawlers had been mere moments ago with a loud bang that make me swear loudly in surprise as I realised what was going on. The Shelled Crawler had just used freaking magic!

“Yeah that’s really not good,” I stated once I had recovered my composure. With those shells attacking a Shelled Crawler with the magic and weapons that I had right now would be like attacking a tank while armed with only a pistol they would just ignore anything that I threw their way and return fire with something that I couldn’t defend against.

However, I now knew that I could attack the Crawlers through the barrier which meant that I had an advantage, there was only one thing I didn’t know; would the barrier run out of energy faster if it was attacked enough? In theory I had another couple of days before the barrier faded but it was already looking like it was going to fade at any moment which was making me pretty nervous.

“Well the question is; do I risk trying to kill a few Crawlers, or do I train for a day and try to kill a few of them tomorrow before making my escape?” I asked myself. After thinking about it for a while I decided to do a bit of both. After all the best way to Level Up my Skills was to use them on enemies and if I attacked them in different areas, I would hopefully be able to draw off a few of the Crawlers to specific areas while leaving others less heavily guarded. I wasn’t sure if things would work out that way, but it was the best thing that I could think of right now. I did have a reason for thinking this could work, already there were more Crawlers arriving from either side like they had been drawn in by my attack.

Making my way quickly to the opposite side of the barrier I once again took aim at one of the smaller Crawlers and fired a Stone Shot that tagged it in one of its limbs making it stumble. This time it was one of the nearby Stinging Crawlers that reacted, firing a jet of some sort of liquid at the barrier from one of its oddly shaped limbs. Pausing briefly to look at this strange new development I watched with shock as when the liquid hit the ground what looked like smoke started to rise from the grass which started withering away.

“Oh great, they can shoot acid,” I groaned. Things were looking worse and worse for me, at least I could be sure that I could outrun the Shelled Crawlers, but I was much less sure that I could outrun the Stinging Crawlers, especially now that I knew that they had a ranged attack.

Things were really starting to look bad but I knew that if I gave up now everything that I’d already done would have been for naught so I took a deep breath and made my way to the next area and attacked another Crawler, this time I was lucky enough to land a hit that nearly ripped one of its limbs and I continued to pummel the creature with magic until it was grabbed by the massive limbs of the nearby Shelled Crawler and dragged away as the other Crawlers attacked the barrier where my spells had been emerging.

By the time I had repeated this pattern of attacking one of the Crawlers until they either managed to escape or the other Crawlers got in the way five times I was starting to get pretty tired so I returned to the clearing and sat down beside the spring to meditate. Instead of using this time to focus on raising my Affinities as much as possible I instead tried to use the calm state I was now in to try and come up with a better idea than the one that I already had but to no avail, there was something that I thought I could try to improve my chances of survival, after watching what the Crawlers did when I attacked them I had come to the conclusion that I could probably outrun the Crawlers but if I was hit by one of their ranged attacks my advantage in speed would disappear. However, I could try and make some basic armour with my Nature Shaping Skill and perhaps another spell that I could use to make a barrier behind me which would hopefully increase my chances of survival.

But that could wait until it started to get dark so once my MP and SP had regenerated I ran to the next place I had decided on and fired a Stone Shot at one of the Crawlers and followed up with a Mana Blade that ripped one of its limbs off, this time the nearby Shelled Crawler fired a beam of magical energy at the barrier which I could’ve sworn actually started to buckle slightly before the beam stopped. A quick check of this Shelled Crawlers Level made me actually stop breathing as I stared at the hideous creature in shock for a few seconds.

“Holy shit this one’s Level 33.”

No wonder its magical attack had looked so powerful, because of this I decided to check the Level of the Shelled Crawlers more often. The last thing I needed was for the barrier to go down early because it had been attacked too many times by something with a relatively high Level. If it had been yesterday that this had happened, I wouldn’t have been worrying quite so much but the barrier was looking quite weak compared to the past few days, so I was just a bit paranoid.

Shaking my head to clear it I decided to move on to the next area. After I had continued my hit and run tactics for another few rounds, I returned to the clearing once more to meditate and recover. I knew that I had quite a few Skill increases waiting for me so once I had recovered, I decided to take the time to check them.

Skills increased!

Sneak increased to Lvl 3

Mana Manipulation increased to Lvl 7

Mana Bolt increased to Lvl 4

Mana Blade increased to Lvl 3

Running increased to Lvl 3

Stone Shot increased to Lvl 3

Spell Targeting increased to Lvl 3

Available Aspect points increased by 7

With this latest haul of Aspect Points, I now had enough to finish of the Aspect of the Scientist and start on another one. Placing two points into Aspect of the Scientist I confirmed my decision and felt my consciousness once again thrown into my internal world which showed several new organisms that seemed to be trying to get away from one of the amoebae that had evolved recently. These new organisms had a variety of different methods of movement and some of these were more effective than others, eventually only the fastest of organisms survived long enough to reproduce though I knew that this was just the beginning of a new trend in how prey escaped their predators and would end up becoming a sort of evolutionary arms race that would continue until the world itself ended. Which considering that it was inside of me I was hoping wasn’t going to be any time soon. Opening my eyes as the scene faded, I grinned as I looked at the new notifications that had appeared.

Aspect of the Scientist been completed providing you with the following benefits.

But of course, without Intelligence a scientist would not be able to work at all.

+2 Intelligence!

For completing this Aspect, you may choose a Skill from this list to be upgraded to the next tier.

- Identify

- Zoology

- Botany

- Dissection

Please be aware that some of these options may combine one or more Skills together to create the new Skill.

Aspect Points: 9

Soul Aspect increased to Level 65!

With the emergence of these new predators the things that they prey on have to be able to escape them.

Agility increased by 2!

Growth Rate increased by 1 Agility!

Well now, this was an interesting development. After thinking about it for a few seconds I decided that the Skill that would most benefit from an upgrade was Identification, so I selected the Skill and read the new notification that appeared.

Identification has been upgraded to Observation (Specialised) Lvl 1!

This skill allows you to see information on any target in your line of sight while the Skill is in use simply by willing it. The information shown is different for objects and living beings.

Cost 20 MP/min

Growth Rate increased from 1 Perception to 1 Perception and Wisdom.

Now this was a worthwhile upgrade! It now cost the same amount to use this new Skill for a minute which would allow me to check the details of multiple things for the same cost as using Identify twice used to cost me. Trying it out I noticed that it only identified what I was looking at if I focussed on that thing and willed it to be identified which would prevent me from being blinded by notification screens which was a useful little gimmick.

“Well now,” I said finally. “What should I spend the rest of the points on?”

While I had originally been intending on spending them on Aspect of the Wizard which I had assumed was going to be the one that primarily focussed on attack magic and Intelligence but now that I had unlocked my Form Giant Amoeba Skill. I didn’t have enough Aspect Points to gain any rewards from my new Aspect but I could get another set of bonuses from my Soul Aspect so I decided to put the nine points that I had left into the Aspect before I could second guess myself. Aspect of the Mage and Aspect of the Sage would probably provide a lot more power for me personally but that wasn’t the goal here. I had promised that I would survive until the remnants of the Yajash got here and as far as I was concerned the easiest way to ensure my safety was to make sure that I was never alone. I did feel a bit guilty about the idea of forcing things that I had created to fight for me, but I would just have to do my best to make sure that as few of them died as possible.

As soon as I confirmed my decision, I found myself floating above the planet that existed in my inner world and I could see that things were changing once more. The light from the sun that the planet was orbiting was being refracted around the edge of the planet slightly making me cock my head sideways in confusion as I wondered why I was being shown this.

When I opened my eyes, I found a notification floating in front of me that made me nod my head in understanding.

Soul Aspect increased to Level 74!

Your internal world has started to form an ozone layer that will allow more lifeforms to emerge from the oceans that once protected them from the harsh rays of the sun.

Vitality increased by 2!

Growth Rate increased by 1 Vitality!

Air Affinity increased by 2%

Once I had finished reading the notification, I closed it and started thinking about what I needed to do next before I could start second guessing my decision.

“I should really do something with my Air Affinity as well,” I muttered to myself thoughtfully. I did have a couple of ideas for spells that used my Air Affinity, but I had spent enough time sitting around convalescing. It was time to get back to harassing the Crawlers, hopefully I would even be able to kill one this time and gain a bit of Experience.

A short time later I was once again firing a magical attack or two at an unfortunate Crawler before heading to the next area. Deciding it was now time to start to try drawing them off a little I started focussing on attacking only the Crawlers on one side of the barrier and soon enough there was a large number gathering on that side. It was then that I made my move and ran to the opposite side, hoping to find a solitary Crawler that I could ambush and actually kill before more arrived to help it out.

Sure enough I found a Level 2 Crawler that had isolated itself from the few others nearby and I quickly cast Sticky Bog and followed it up with two Stone Shots and a Mana Blade that tore one of its limbs off causing it to fall into the stinking mud that it had found itself stuck in. I continued to attack the thing as its few nearby fellows made their way over to it but at the last minute I leapt out and slammed the Mana Edge enhanced spike on the back of my axe into the centre part of its body as I cancelled my spell and started dragging the struggling creature back through the barrier. I wasn’t sure whether or not this would work and as a spray of acid shot towards me, I even started to regret my decision when I felt the familiar tingling sensation as my body starting to slip through the barrier. Unfortunately, at the same moment I also felt the acid strike the arm that was holding my axe and by extension the Crawler making me yelp in pain as I fell backwards pulling the still struggling Crawler in on top of me.

“Holy shit!” I shouted as the things full weight fell on me. The flesh on my arm sizzled as I attempted to struggle out from under the Crawler that I had dragged back through the barrier after me, half expecting the things jaws to chomp down on my flesh. Finally getting a hand between me and the Crawler I activated a Mana Blast sending the thing flying into the air before landing with a splat a few metres away.

Now that I could see it clearly, I knew why it hadn’t bitten me when I had fallen over while I had been hit by some of the acid that had been shot by the nearby Stinging Crawler. Luckily for me I had managed to avoid most of the caustic liquid. My victim on the other hand hadn’t been so lucky and had taken the brunt of the attack that had left it riddled with still steaming holes.

“Well that was lucky, do I have a luck stat that I can’t see or something?” I gasped as I staggered to my feet, gasping in pain as my movements caused a fresh wave of pain to assault my senses, radiating up from my injured arm.

Looking down at the arm in question I quickly cast my Condense Water spell with my remaining MP to try and wash some of the remaining acid off my arm before more of my flesh melted away. Once this was done, I stopped and stared at the ruined skin covering my arm. A quick check of my HP told me that I’d lost 37 HP from both the struggling Crawler which had managed to tag me a few times with its claw-tipped limbs and from the acid spray.

“Jeez, just how powerful is that stuff?” I hissed in pain as I looked down at my arm. I could even see areas where the skin had been melted clear away by the acid, revealing the muscle beneath. But as I watched my flesh started to regrow back over the wounds and a little less than two minutes later all that remained of the damage was a few tender nerves and some slightly shiny skin where it had grown back.

“Well damn, wish that I healed that fast back on Earth,” I muttered under my breath as I clenched my fist and stretched my arm to see if I had lost any mobility.

When I was satisfied with how well my arm had healed I walked over to the tangled pile of limbs that was the corpse of the Crawler that I had dragged through behind me and started to root around in it for my axe which I had dropped when I had fallen over.

“Well shit,” I remarked as I pulled what remained of the weapon free of the creature’s corpse. “Looks like I’m making another axe.”

All that remained of my new weapon was a stump of wood and most of the head, which had been stuck in the body of the Crawler. The whole centre of the weapon had been destroyed by either the acid that had been shot at me or damaged enough that it broke when the Crawler’s corpse landed back on the ground.

“Oh well, I just hope I’m not making a habit of making a new axe every couple of days,” I sighed as I tossed what remained of the haft of my weapon to the side. Enough remained of the head that I was pretty sure that I could use it to make something out of. I didn’t think that I was going to use it for the head of my new axe but maybe I could use it to make something else.

“Now what to do with this,” I said turning my attention back to the tangle of limbs that was what remained of the Crawler that I had killed.